— Another financial cliff is looming before Congress, and Lehigh Valley Congressman Charlie Dent might be forgiven for saying, 'I told you so.'"

If Congress doesn't approve a funding bill by Friday night, the Department of Homeland Security will run out of money, putting the agency in a precarious situation in which 30,000 employees would be furloughed, tens of thousands of high-priority workers would be forced to work without pay, and millions in anticipated grant dollars to states like Pennsylvania would be in limbo.

As in a 2013 government shutdown, Dent is a leading voice on Capitol Hill for preventing an impasse. He's been urging approval of the spending bill — which he helped draft as a leader on the Appropriations Committee — without any of the controversial immigration provisions that created the current stalemate.

As the House returns to session Tuesday, Dent will resume his effort to convince colleagues that the battle is lost.

"There aren't enough votes in the Senate to pass the House's bill," Dent said in an interview. "It's that simple, and so we have to try something else."

Such a legislative showdown was "inevitable," said Dent, with frustration in his voice. He predicted after the House voted in January that the Senate would not agree to a spending bill that undoes President Barack Obama's policy to allow approximately 5 million undocumented immigrants avoid deportation.

Congressional leaders decided late last year to pay only for a few months of Homeland Security operations so congressional Republicans upset by Obama's executive actions on immigration could express their disagreement.

Other departments were funded through September, but the Homeland Security money was split off to try to send the White House a bill that tied additional dollars to undoing the administration's immigration policy changes.

The Senate has failed four times to approve the House-passed funding measure, most recently Monday evening as it returned from break. Support from a handful of Senate Democrats is needed to debate the legislation, and they have refused to back the provisions on immigration.

Without support from Senate Democrats, the Republicans who hold majorities in both chambers have few options. They can bring up a bill that only deals with the agency's funding, as Dent has urged, or they can extend the current funding for a short time to postpone the immigration dispute.

Buying time, however, would come with consequences. If Congress allows the agency only to continue its current operations, that would delay the start of any new grant allocations to state and local governments.

According to data from Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey's office, the commonwealth received $47.5 million through several Homeland Security grant programs last fiscal year, and would be in line to receive a similar amount this year. Those funds — used by local officials to prepare for natural disasters, acts of terrorism and other hazards — are typically distributed by the end of September, but this year's timing depends on when a funding bill is approved.

Casey, a Democrat, raised particular concerns this month over another $20 million that is distributed to Pennsylvania fire departments for equipment and training. More than 1,000 pending applications would be placed in limbo if a spending bill isn't approved.

Gov. Tom Wolf, in Washington on Monday for a gathering of the National Governors Association, told reporters he supports calls from Obama and others for Congress to pass a funding bill that does not address immigration concerns and ensures that grant dollars continue flowing.

"It's a big deal," Wolf said of a potential halt to Homeland Security grants.

Dent said he would rather see a so-called "clean" bill — without the immigration provisions — rather than another short-term bill, because an extension simply would create another doomsday deadline.

He emphasized that he agrees with those who say the president overstepped his bounds through his immigration actions. But the recent decision by a federal judge to temporarily block the policy from going into effect offers a better path toward permanently halting the immigration change, Dent said.

"The way that we are going to undo the president's executive action is in court, not in the appropriations process," he said.

It remains to be seen how crucial Dent may be in persuading congressional Republicans to revise their tactics. While his rhetoric during the 2013 shutdown increased his profile as someone who would push for compromise over standoffs, that role could work against Dent on issues like immigration.

With certain parts of the House Republican caucus, a center-right lawmaker like Dent might not be the right messenger to persuade more conservative legislators, said Mark Harkins, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Government Affairs Institute and a former congressional staffer.

"He is 'dog bites man' on this. Everybody expects him to say that," Harkins said. "It almost takes one of the more conservative members saying, 'OK, this is a loser.'"

If Dent and others pushing for resolution don't succeed, they still may be held responsible if Homeland Security operations are reduced to a minimum.

In a CNN poll last week, 53 percent of respondents said they would blame congressional Republicans for a shutdown, with 30 percent saying they would blame the president and 13 percent faulting both sides.